Factors influencing the response to therapy in dogs with eosinophilic bronchopneumopathy.

Objectives: Canine eosinophilic bronchopneumopathy (EBP) is a poorly understood disease characterized by chronic inflammation of the lower airways. To date, factors affecting the course of the disease are largely unknown. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of clinical, laboratory, and environmental factors on therapeutic outcome in dogs with EBP.

Bacterial Contamination of Inhalation Chambers Used for Cats and Dogs with Chronic Airway Diseases.

Inhalation chambers (ICs) are regularly used in veterinary medicine for the inhalative treatment of chronic respiratory diseases in dogs and cats. Since therapy is usually required lifelong and daily, devices are frequently in use. The aim of this study was to identify bacterial contamination of ICs used for cats and dogs in relation to the applied cleaning measures.

Prevalence of and risk factors for feline hyperthyroidism among a clinic population in Southern Germany.

Objectives: Feline hyperthyroidism is a common endocrine disorder in older cats. Previous studies have identified nutritional imbalances, thyroid-disrupting compounds, increasing age and being non-purebred as risk factors but the final trigger remains unknown. The purpose of this prospective study was a) to determine the hospital prevalence of hyperthyroidism in a client-owned cat population in Southern Germany, b) to exploit how frequently hyperthyroidism was diagnosed after the initial clinical suspicion and c) to determine putative intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors from the cats' signalment and a questionnaire analysis, respectively.

Surface refraction of sound waves affects calibration of three-dimensional ultrasound.

Background: Three-dimensional ultrasound (3D-US) is used in planning and treatment during external beam radiotherapy. The accuracy of the technique depends not only on the achievable image quality in clinical routine, but also on technical limitations of achievable precision during calibration. Refraction of ultrasound waves is a known source for geometric distortion, but such an effect was not expected in homogenous calibration phantoms.